Wants company to fulfil all pre-conditions; firm says move discriminatory.
In a major setback to Ajit Gulabchand's Lavasa Corporation Ltd, the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s (MoEF) on Friday refused to grant green clearance to the first phase of its hill city project near Pune.
After a prolonged legal battle, the ministry has made it clear that it would not give a go-ahead until Lavasa abides by all the preconditions. The move has not gone down well with Lavasa Corp Ltd, which is reportedly making a loss of Rs 2 crore per day.
Terming the move as “discriminatory and unjust,” the company said, “We are disappointed with the order. After 11 months of continued delaying tactics, the ministry has yet again evaded grant of environment clearance (EC).”
Justifying its stand, the ministry said Lavasa failed to meet one of the five pre-conditions. The condition involves “credible action by the Maharashtra government against violation under the Environment (Protection) Act , 1986”.
Hitting back, Lavasa said, “To suggest that the Maharashtra government has not yet taken action is not a good reason to delay grant to a project, that has been under development for the last seven years.”
The ministry’s new order came after the Bombay High Court last month directed it to pass the final order in three weeks on the regularisation application. Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), is developing the Rs 3,000-crore hill city in two phases of 2,000 hectares and 3,000 hectares.
Problems began during the tenure of Jairam Ramesh as the environment minister. His ministership issued a stop-work order last November, saying environmental clearances were not taken and rules were breached. This, Lavasa had challenged in the HC.
In a letter to Ramesh on June 21, Gulabchand had said the company had complied with all the preconditions “except the precondition no (i) linked to the state government”.
| HILL PROJECT STUMBLES |
| CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS |
| Nov, 2010 Environment ministry issues stop-work order; says Lavasa Corp didn’t take clearence before starting project, rules were breached |
| December Lavasa challenges the decision in Bombay HC |
| Feb 2, 2011 Lavasa submits proposal seeking environmental clearance for 2,000 hectares for the first phase |
| May, 31 The Expert Appraisal Committee recommends clearence for Phase I, but with 34 riders. Of these, five are pre-conditions, which Lavasa has to comply with |
| June MoEF letter to Lavasa says it has to comply with the preconditions before being granted clearence |
| July Lavasa tells court it cannot accept the pre-conditions as it would ‘tantamount to admission of guilt when there was none’ |
| August Lavasa does a U-turn. Says ready to accept conditions. |
| September, 24 Bombay HC issues ultimatum to the MoEF directing it to pass the final order within three weeks |
| October 14 Ministry denies clearance to the project (Phase I) |
| October 18 Case to come up for hearing in the Bombay HC |
| THE FIVE PRE-CONDITIONS |
| * Credible action by the Maharashtra govt for violation under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 |
| * Lavas’a written submission of not violating the Act again |
| * Clear demarcation of no-construction zone |
| * At least 5% of the total project cost to be earmarked for CSR |
| * Creation of an environmental restoration fund |
He wrote to the present environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan last month. She, however, refused to accept his contention that construction had begun in other projects too, prior to environmental clearance.
